Mama's Oatmeal

Mama's Oatmeal is full of lots of delicious goodies and a great way to start the day.

For my second pregnancy, we chose to go to a birth center for my prenatal care and the birth. It was a great team of two midwives, an OB-GYN and birth assistants. I loved the leisurely appointments that really focused on taking care of the whole person and the whole family. If you live in the Phoenix area, I highly recommend checking out Blossom Birth Center. 

In the binder of articles and resources from Blossom, there was a great recipe for Mama's oatmeal. It became a family favorite, and I made it at least a few times each week while I was pregnant. Over time we tweaked and perfected until we landed on our current recipe. We hadn't had it for a while, and decided to make it yesterday morning as part of our cleaning out the pantry, fridge and freezer effort. What a delicious and nostalgic treat. When I started making this, our toddler wasn't eating nuts yet, and she would ask for "hini, hini, hini" for tahini. Amazing that she's now able to clearly discuss "all the delicious goodies" in her oatmeal, and to list the ingredients one-by-one including "tahini'.

*start the recipe the night before*

Mama's Oatmeal - City Share Style (2-3 servings)

1 C Steel Cut Oats

Water

1 T Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

2 C Whole Milk

Pinch of Pink Salt

Dash of Vanilla

Small handful of dried fruit (raisins, cherries, cranberries or prunes)- optional

1 T Black Strap Molasses

2 T Butter

Pecans

Tahini

Soak the oats in water with the apple cider vinegar over night. In the morning, pour the oats into a fine mesh strainer. Rinse with water. Return the oats to the pot, add the milk. Bring to a simmer and add the salt, vanilla, dried fruit, black strap molasses and butter. Continue to cook until the oats are tender - about 15 minutes. Dish up into bowls. Add a small handful of pecans and 1 teaspoon of tahini to each bowl. Top with extra whole milk until it reaches the desired consistency.

Thanksgiving Dinner

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends.

We had planned on visiting family in upstate New York for the weekend. We expected to enjoy a lunch with one part of the family and dinner with another part of the family (our routine for the last several years). This is baby girl's first Thanksgiving and we were excited for her to get to see so many family members. Unfortunately our transportation fell through at the last minute, and we realized we would be spending Thanksgiving on our own in New York City.

I was really sad about not getting to spend the holiday with family, but we decided to embrace this change of plans. As we get ready to move to Boston, it became a nice opportunity to have a few more New York experiences before we leave.


In the morning, we went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We had never been, and it was lots of fun. Some people arrive at 6:30 am to stake out a spot. We let the baby have a nap at home, and then headed out. So we didn't arrive until after the parade had started. We were in the back, but we still enjoyed all the balloons and listening to the marching bands. Our little one loved watching all the people.

After the parade, we decided to get a light lunch before getting on the subway back to Brooklyn. We found Fine and Schapiro, a Kosher deli, and enjoyed some latkes, pierogies and half a corned beef sandwich.


We got a few last minute invites to local dinners, but we decided to cook at home. Neither one of us has ever prepared an entire Thanksgiving dinner. We have only made a couple of dishes to take to family dinners. We set our menu and did some last minute shopping the night before.


I love Thanksgiving food, so it was hard not to make a million side dishes, but we were pretty good at keeping the menu at a reasonable size. My husband found a 9 pound young turkey that was delicious. We also made a cranberry orange relish, sweet potatoes with pecans, cinnamon and cloves, brussels sprouts with red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese, creamed onions with bacon, and a leek, cranberry and apple stuffing.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?